Heartthrob
by kawaiimidii
Summary: HxR, "Heero shot Duo a murderous glare, but quickly found himself looking past Duo’s laughing eyes. At the latest magazine stand, directly behind them, his image was inked onto the latest People magazine. Most eligible bachelor."
1. Bittersweet Fame

**Heartthrob**

Chapter 1: Bittersweet fame

By Miss K

Note: Fanfiction goodness for all.

Rated: R (sexual content; language)

* * *

Artificial sunlight illuminated the sky and basked the entire landscape with its heated glory. A pleasant breeze moved past two uniformed men sitting at a simple café table before continuing its lazy course throughout the colony. Though the morning weather was designed to lift the spirits of its inhabitants, it failed to touch a certain, impossible Preventer. 

"Sure you can do this, Yuy? You always did suck at public events."

Heero set his steaming cup of coffee down and casually sat back, crossing his arms. Adjusting his sunglasses he reached for the daily paper and peeled it open, tenting him from the man in front of him and anyone else that looked in his general direction. "Not by choice. Une said they'd cut our funds if we don't show."

"Man, I just can't believe they suddenly decided to thank us for what we did." Duo leaned back in his chair and put his hands behind his head. He lifted his sunglasses to look at Heero, "Anyway, aside from going to charity, it's a load of shit if you ask me."

Heero's eyed an image of the President on the inside of his paper. "Relena knew we didn't want the publicity. It's this new President."

"Is he going to be trouble?"

"No, he just doesn't know what the hell he's doing. He's just a political prostitute for the delegates."

"Jesus, everything's gone downhill since Relena left." Shrugging, Duo took a massive bite of a piece of toast. "Least you getta talk to her tonight."

Relena. Heero's hands tightened involuntarily on the edges of the fragile paper he held. How many years had it been since he saw her? How many years since he-… "I can't see her."

Duo snickered, "She won't ruin your image, Heero."

If paper could cry, Heero's would have. The paper crinkled painfully in his vice-grip before he hissed a careful reply. "I'm going to show up, accept the praise, and leave. I'm doing this because I'd rather not lose my paycheck."

The braided man grinned. "Or your fan club."

Heero shot Duo a murderous glare, but quickly found himself looking past Duo's laughing eyes. At the latest magazine stand, directly behind them, his image was inked onto the latest People magazine. Most eligible bachelor. His hands crumpled the remainder of his morning news before he threw the abused mess onto the table, exposing him back to the world. Removing his sunglasses, he rubbed his eyes and the tender bridge of his nose, trying to erase the image in front of him.

"Honestly, you could at least try to keep in contact with her. I can only imagine how she must be feeling after everything that's happened."

He ran a hand through his hair and sat forward, pointing his sunglasses at Duo, "You know I never asked for any of this. I'm not about to drag back down with-"

"Oh my Gawd, it's really him. It's 01!"

Heero's cup of coffee shattered on the ground. Mid conversation, he two men froze and looked fearfully at each other before uttering two silent words in unison.

"Oh shit."

* * *

"I LOVE YOU, HEERO!" 

"Heero!"

"Marry me, Heero!"

"Here at the local java café, Heero Yuy was spotted drinking a cup of coffee with a local Preventer and coworker named Duo Maxwell. As you can see, many of his local fans have gathered here to catch glimpse of the young, handsome "

Intent on staying focused, Relena squeezed her pencil and kept her eyes glued on her paper. Girlie screams erupted from the other opposite end of her dorm room as her roommates sat religiously around the television. She thought seriously about dropping their beloved T.V. out the window, but went back to her work, refused to give them the satisfaction of looking at him. 'This is important,' she reminded herself after reading the same sentence again. For the tenth time.

"Can you believe he's here on our colony? Oh, it gives me chills just thinking about it."

"He's only like, a block away! Sarah, remind me, why aren't we downtown yet?"

"Because you have finals this week." Relena reminded her dim roommates. "And you're both failing a math class." Giving up her war, she closed her thick book and set her pencil down. She was more content with staring at the cover than the inside text.

"No one asked you, _Queenie_." She cringed at the nickname. Relena's bleach blond roommate spat back over her shoulder. "Go bitch somewhere else."

"Gladly", she sighed. Her voice was sounded surprisingly defeated even to herself and she pushed back from her desk and began her march toward the door. Careful to avoid their life size version of 01, she sidestepped and reached out for the doorknob. With every intent on leaving, she turned to coolly give her roommates one last reply. That was her mistake.

Even though he was made of cheap cardboard, he was real enough. He was a clone of the original, from his chocolate hair to his abused ebony boots. From memory she always remembered him as slightly shorter and leaner. This Heero was tall, muscular, and impossibly sexy. Surely this wasn't what he looked like. Two years couldn't change a man that much. His shiny Prussian eyes stared right through her, but it was the same look she could remember from her teenage years. Never at her, through her. Always out of respect, never out of love.

When had it all started?

_"Relena…" A trickle of sweat ran down the heated skin of his forehead. She vaguely felt him slide down her body, leaving cool air to invade her chest, but was too hazy with pleasure to realize his intensions. A tongue flicked at the core of her body and drove her body insane with passion. She heard a heartfelt scream tear from her lungs, but at the time wasn't aware it was her crying out. She could only feel his touch._

"Relena." A brunette girl acknowledged her.

_She looked over at him, only to be greeted with his veil of hair instead of the light from his eyes. He sat up and turned away; his eyes closed. He wouldn't look at her. "Heero?"_

_Without a word, he stood._

_"Heero, please."_

_He slid his shirt over his glistening chest and reached for his jeans._

_A cry caught in her throat. "Please..-"_

"Relena!"

She jumped at the sound of her own name and turned her head to her roommates. The brunette girl, Melissa, was giggling behind Sarah. The pseudo blonde sighed heavily and looked at her. "Get your ass out of the way, we can't see the screen."

She blinked before numbly turning her attention back to the door, more shocked at the sudden memory than their harsh comments. After twisting and pulling their door handle, she stormed out in embarrassment. With unnecessary force she pulled it behind her, satisfied with the loud slam that echoed down the hall. Relieved to have the barrier between her and her roommates, Relena bent backward and slid down to the floor.

"God, can you believe her? She's so annoying"

"Honestly, she was queen for like, a week. Big deal. I was homecoming queen once. You don't see me burying myself in homework."

"She's too nice."

"She wouldn't be so bad if she liked Heero, like any normal heterosexual. Do you think she's a…"

"Lesbian? Nah. She just doesn't want to get her hopes up. I'd give up too, if I had her breasts."

Pulling her knees up to her chest, Relena hung her head. She had wanted to stand up and walk away from their hushed whispers, but she couldn't yield the power to move. She was not going to get upset. Not over this. Not over him. Disgusted at herself, Relena stood herself up as laughter filtered out of the crack from her dorm room. She understood the cruelty of girls, but never when it involved him. Two years back on her first day of school, after having no apparent knowledge about current stars or hunks, her roommates instantly bonded and classified her as 'uncool'. Anyone not smitten with Heero Yuy was an enemy.

After years of authority, she was now a loser.

But, that's what she wanted, right? She wanted to be done with politics. Done with the media. Done.

Her legs were dragged her toward the door at the end of the hall. A huff of hair escaped her parted lips and lifted a blond strand off her face. She would just go out for a breath of fresh air. Tonight was the big charity dinner. Everyone with a famous face or wealth would be present. It was a good cause, raising money for the orphans of war. Though, she was still clueless of how they were planning to raise the money in the first place. It seemed to be more about publicity than charity.

It was going to be her first time to be back in the spotlight since she declared she was ready to retire as foreign minister and pursue her education.

But the only thing on her mind was the fact that she was going to see Heero Yuy in the first time in two years.

Shaking her head, she pushed her way outside into the invading colony light and came face to face with familiar blue eyes.

* * *

Author's note: Hope you liked it. Yes, I'm aware it's short and for that I'm eternally sorry. For fair warning, chapter two may not be out for awhile. 


	2. Preparations of the Heart

Note: Geez, look what you all went and did. You inspired me with your beautiful comments. Homework has now officially taken a backseat. Hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

I also was thinking about making some drawing to go along with this thing. Some silly ideas are popping into my head for this story. Hopefully I can conquer photoshop by then. I've only done one thing with it so far, which was my "Heero's support" picture. Didn't turn out as smoothly as I thought it would. We'll see what happens.

note Happy birthday to me. Wuu.

Now, without further ado, here it is. My birthday gift to you.

* * *

Heartthrob

Chapter 2: Preparation of the Heart

Rated: R (language)

By Miss K

* * *

The synthetic colony daylight was at its midday peak in the sky, making it virtually impossible for Relena to see straight after walking out of her shady din. But, even the harsh light wasn't enough to conceal the outline of the familiar figure standing merely a few feet from her. Brilliant blue eyes and a lean frame were all that she could make out before it dawned on her. She gasped. It couldn't be…

"Hilde?" Relena asked, surprised and suddenly delighted. "What on Earth are you doing here?"

A devilish grin flashed on the small girls lips. After giving the dumbfounded blonde a quick hug, she thrusted a large Estee Lauder shopping bag into Relena's arms and helped herself to re-opening the shutting, glass door. "Helping beautify you, of course. You won't have all those flashy make-up artists making over your face like you used to, so I figured since I'm on the colony for the big dinner tonight, I'd save you." With a wink she motioned for her blonde friend to enter.

"Really, Hilde you don't"

"Oh, stop. I want to do this for you." Hilde shushed her with a pointed index finger. "Besides, we really need some girl time. I've had way too much testosterone in my life lately."

Relena's face softened. "Duo?"

"Don't get me started. He may be cute, but that's hardly an excuse to be such an asshole sometimes. Anyway, are you coming?" Motioning to the door, she turned to move inside, out of the heat of the sun, but stopped when she felt Relena's hand touch her arm lightly. Relena didn't say a word; only biting her lower lip and silently pleaded for her friend of four years to understand. Turning her head to the blonde girl, Hilde's beaming smile immediately faded.

Reality swiftly sunk in and Hilde felt like kicking herself. She should have realized why Relena had burst outside in such a hurry.

For the past two years it was the same routine, except this time she was finally there to be witness to it. Relena had usually called from an outside phone and often times even stayed in hotels overnight, talking with her over a vid-phone. She remembered one time in particular when Relena had called, shaking with fresh mascara running down her cheeks. To anyone else, she knew the blonde girl would have been utterly embarrassed, but they had an understanding, a sisterly bond that could only come from years of friendship. Though she wouldn't say, her message was always clear. Melissa and Sarah are up. Melissa and Sarah, meaning, Heero Yuy posters, clothes, bedspreads, life-size cardboard models, and endless television updates. It was more than she could handle.

Hilde could only image what Relena went through daily. To wake each day to his piercing eyes staring down at her from a poster, permanently glued on the wall. Eating lunch and over hearing local college girls talk about him as though he was their close lover, oblivious that Relena had been the only one to ever share a bed with the quiet hero. Seeing his handsome face plastered on every magazine stand and every channel, throwing modified, sexy smiles at her already broke heart. Then, to go home and have him stare at her from every imaginable angle, to watch her as she slept. It was a steady reminder of what she once held dear and was torn from. Relena had her heart repeatedly crushed each day. The princess was all too quickly forgotten from the world, and the only thing she could cherish was the thought of the man she loved. But, even that was being taken from her. The one thing that was once hers was now every woman in the universes.

She was just another crush on Heero Yuy.

"Come on Relena, you can come to my place. Duo and I have a really nice hotel room. The Preventer's gave Duo a hefty raise, so we can actually afford it." Putting on her best smile, she grabbed the former queen's hand and turned, walking toward the sun. "The bathroom lighting's really good, so it'll help me when I do your hair and makeup."

Hilde continued to soothe Relena with her friendly words and a squeeze of her hand, but beneath the sparkling smile she still mourned for the broken girl she carefully held onto. Something had to be done. How would Relena ever cope with seeing him again at the dinner party, after years of separation? Not to mention the heart-wrecking goodbye he left her with. The bastard man that had broken former queen's heart was going to pay.

"Come on, Relena. I have this amazing black evening dress Duo bought me. I want you to try it on..."

* * *

"Ah, HEERO! I'm your number one fan!"

"Let me have your children, Heer-!"

"Oh, fuck!" Duo sharply cut the wheel of his truck, barely dodging the stray fans that seemingly appeared out of nowhere. In his peripheral vision he saw his euphoria and gave a silent prayer of thanks before taking his chance. He closed his eyes and floored the pedal with his right foot. The vehicle pitched forward and sped past the heavy gates of Preventer headquarters, startling the nearby guards. As quick as he had reached the destination, Duo heaved half his body out of his window and thrust a key card out to shut the entrance.

"Oh, for the love of God. Please shut. Please shut.."

"God! It's him! Oh, it's HIM!"

"Please shut. Please shut.."

"TE QUIERO! HEERO!"

With the ding of a red light, the iron door locked into place just as a mob of mad fan girls and surprisingly, a few fan boys, stampeded to the entrance.

"Phew." Bringing himself back into the truck, Duo leaned back again the faded leather in relief. "Oh man, I thought we were done for."

A click of metal sounded through the truck.

Peering to his right, Duo arched his brow as the sound of a gun's safety going off. Or rather, Heero's gun. He put a hand to his forehead and looked up at the trucks ceiling, appearing unmoved and quite used to the gun that was now trained on his head. "Really, the thanks I get. I take you to a nice breakfast. I pay for your coffee and your paper. I save you from being raped by your fans." He counted each action on his fingers for emphasis before giving an indifferent wave at Heero's gun. "And now, I'm going to die."

"This wouldn't have happened if you didn't insist on going out for breakfast."

He let out a dry laugh. "We couldn't let your fans down." He motioned to the loud mob shouting out their declarations of love to the passenger side of Duo's truck.

The young bachelor scowled, keeping his gun targeted with one hand. "I never asked for this."

"Neither did Relena."

"Shut up." Heero went visibly tense at the mention of her name. "That conversation ended at the restaurant."

Duo let out a breath and shook his head. "It started at the restaurant. I can recall you starting to explain why you left her."

"Don't assume you know what happened."

The braided Preventer raised a brow at Yuy. "I don't know. But, I _do_ know what could have happened if you weren't such an idiot. Then you wouldn't be in this truck, bitching to me about it."

"I'm nothing compared to her, Duo." His hand twitched, making the metal gleam off his choice instrument of death. "Don't torment me."

"Correction. You're nothing without her." Shaking his head, Duo crossed his arms across his Preventer jacket, and closed his eyes. "She may not have been able to see through your thick bullshit then, but I see through it everyday." He opened his cobalt eyes and gave Heero a sad look. "You're not the same man you were two years ago, Heero. And even then you were fucked up."

His hands tightened on the gun. Two years?

"Heero…" Duo scratched his head.

It couldn't have been that long.

"...What happened, man?"

_"Heero, please."_

_He slid his shirt over his glistening chest and reached for his jeans. He had used her._

_He slid his jeans up. It was all such a fast blur. He didn't remember what drove him to her bed, all he could think about was the delicious feel of her pale skin against his own. He had fucked her. Slept with her. Broke her pure body and filled it with his disgusting need. Feeling sickened with himself, he slowly zipped up his faded jeans and stood. It had gone too far. He had to get away._

_A cry caught in her throat. "Please..-" _

_He lost control. He never lost control._

_"I have to go." He lied._

_Her could feel the pain in her voice. "You're joking.."_

_His blood was spilling onto her. _

_"I can't deal with it, Relena." She was silent as he opened the door. "Don't bother wasting your love on a man like me."_

_He had to get away._

_"What are you say-"_

_"I'll save us both the embarrassment. Don't worry, you'll never have to see me again."_

_Forget._

_And just like that, he walked out of her life._

Heero's voice was dark and low. "Drop it, Duo."

"God." Duo knocked the still gun out of Heero's grip and grasped his uniform collar, roughly pushing him up against the right side of the passenger window. "She handed you her heart and you still ran out of her life like a coward. That's twisted, Heero." He growled impatiently at the loose man he held up. "What the hell happen-"

Wait.

Realization settled on Duo's features. His eyes went wide. "You're still in love with her. Aren't you?"

Heero's fist collided with Duo's face as soon as he had whispered his statement. Falling back against the seat in pain and sudden shock, Duo seized his newly abused nose. But, the merciless Japanese man didn't give him a moment. He dove at his throat with the rage of a beast, but hit plush leather as his partner ducked to the side at the last second. The two men locked arms and wrestled, rolling around the front of the driver side, spilling blood from Duo's nose everywhere they tumbled. The weak, rusted door creaked open on the driver's side and spilled the pair plummeting out onto the dark pavement. Heero's foot hit the trucks horn as they fell out, sending out a shrill 'beep' that masked his foul vocabulary he shouted at his bloody victim. Simultaneously, they rolled to opposite ends of the truck and heaved themselves up against it, prepared if either were to make another threatening move.

Both realizing they were out of each other's grip, they relaxed their stances and returned to their silence. Like two little boys in a forced time out, they crossed their arms and sat stubbornly against the side of the truck.

"You wouldn't understand, Maxwell."

Shadows cast over the God of Death's eyes as a sickening smile crept up his face. "I wake to the same hell everyday thinking that I'll be Hilde's destruction. I don't just understand, I live it." He looked down at his palms. "No one ever said it'd be easy, Heero. Neither of us are right."

Duo looked up at the sky and shaded his eyes with his hand. "But, I do know it'd be more a hell without her in my life."

Heero snickered and fisted his hands on the pavement.

"Unlike you, I have nothing."

A minute passed between the two Preventers in an awkward stillness before the American Preventer stood and dusted himself off.

"Except what you've refused to acknowledge."

He looking up in surprise, but Duo was already standing above him, his hand out in offering.

"Go back to her."

Heero gave Duo a questionable look before accepting his hand and was lifted up off the dark pavement.

"We're going to prepare you for tonight."

* * *

Miss K: Did I get you? Oh, common. You know. The Hilde thing?

Heero: Don't underestimate their abilities. They're not as dense as you.

Miss K: You stay out of this .


End file.
